Tag: planet’s
Spacecraft will head for Jupiter today to discover if the planet’s icy moons can support life
A SPACECRAFT heads for Jupiter today to find whether the planet’s icy moons can support life.
The six-tonne probe, called Juice, is set to launch at 12.14pm UK time this afternoon in what will be the European Space Agency’s biggest deep-space venture yet.
The six-tonne probe, called Juice, is set to launch at 12.14pm today[/caption]
It will carry 10 scientific instruments to study three of the planet’s four main moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in close flybys[/caption]
It will lift off on an Ariane 5 rocket from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, after being delayed on Thursday by the threat of lightning.
Justin Byrne, head of science for Airbus and the mission’s lead contractor, said: “After more than 10 years developing this pioneering spacecraft, we’re all going to be crossing our fingers that things go smoothly and that this amazing mission will finally be on its way.”
Due to the intricacies of the trajectory it only has a precise one second window to take off.
After lift-off, Juice will separate from the rocket about half an hour later. Then it will embark on a 4.1 billion-mile journey that will take more than eight years.
It will carry 10 scientific instruments to study three of the planet’s four main moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in close flybys.
In December 2034 it will attempt to change paths to orbit Ganymede – making it the first spacecraft in history to orbit a moon other than the Earth’s own.
Dr Caroline Harper, head of space science at the UK Space Agency, said: “The launch of Juice marks years of hard work and collaboration by scientists, engineers and space agencies all over the world, but the journey is far from over.
“We look forward to following the spacecraft as it makes its eight-year trip to Jupiter and then as it studies the planet and its moons, using specialised UK-developed science instruments.
“We have a large community of research experts in the UK who are eagerly awaiting the data that Juice will provide.
“With this information we hope to discover more about the nature of gas giants in space, and their icy moons, bringing us another step closer to understanding the evolution of the universe.”
Saturn’s rings system is heating up the planet’s atmosphere, astronomers discover
5 planets will light the sky in rare astronomical event this week
Stargazers will get treated to a rare view on Monday night. Five planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus — will light up the sky that evening, aligning to (mostly) be visible by the naked eye.
Now, it might be best to break out a telescope or binoculars if you’ve got them handy, but if you have a clear sky you can see this rare sight.
You’ll have to time when you go star-watching to see it all godown. In an NPR article, Rick Fienberg, senior contributing editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, recommends that you look for the planets just after sunset on Monday.
“Wait until the sun has set and then go out and look low in that bright part of the sky where the sun has just set with binoculars, and you should see brighter Jupiter next to fainter Mercury,” Fienberg told NPR.
Venus is bright and should be easier to spot higher in the sky, while Mars should be reddish and near the moon. Uranus is duller and should be spotted near Venus.
You might have just 20-25 minutes to take in the planets, so you’ll want to be sure you’re set up and ready come sunset. Of course, things like the brightness of twilight or the clearness of the skies will affect your ability to see the planets as well. Like most things, it’ll require some luck.
But if you do get lucky, you’ll have a great evening of stargazing this week.
Scientists Believe They Will Find Alien Life On Thousands Of Planets In Next 20 Years – The Sun
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Astrobiologist Narrows Search For Alien Life To Five Planets – The Jerusalem Post
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The planets are absolutely brilliant in the sky right now. Look up.
Look up.
February 2023 is a fantastic time to easily view two of the unique planets in our solar system. Both the gas giant Jupiter and our scorching sister planet, Venus, are brilliant in the night sky this month. Even in regions with terrible light pollution, like New York City, these planetary diamonds shine bright.
“All month long, you’ll notice the two brightest planets in the sky, Jupiter and Venus, appear closer together each evening,” writes NASA.
How to see Jupiter and Venus
It’s extremely easy. And you don’t need any equipment.
“Find them in the west in the hour or so after sundown,” NASA explains.
You’ll see Jupiter above, and Venus — which is the third brightest celestial object in the night sky (behind the sun and moon) — below. As February progresses, the planets are moving closer together in the sky.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Of course, these vivid planets aren’t the only intriguing objects to see in February. For example, with the help of binoculars, you can spot two clusters of stars.
“All month long, observers with access to a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope can hunt for two easy star clusters using the brightest star in the sky as a guidepost,” NASA explains. “They’re two open star clusters, M41 and M47. They’re called ‘open’ because their stars are close together in space, but in sort of a diffuse structure.” The guidepost is Sirius, which is easy to find in the south skies during winter. M41 is just south of Sirius. If you’re up for the star cluster hunt, the space agency has more details on its sky-viewing webpage.
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And, let us not forget our deeply cratered natural satellite, the moon. By Feb. 27, it will have reached its first quarter. But watch for this lunar sighting: Also on Feb. 27, in the southwest after sunset, Mars will make a close appearance near the moon. They’ll be under a degree apart, NASA noted.
Wild planets in our cosmic backyard
It’s a treat to be able to view nearby celestial objects with our naked eye as sunlight reflects off them. The two planets in view now, Venus and Jupiter, are wildly different worlds:
Venus: Venus is a rocky planet that’s about the same size of Earth. It’s also the closest planet to us. But on the ground, its environs are hotter than a pizza oven, at some 900 degrees Fahrenheit. The planet’s thick layers of greenhouse gases, like the potent carbon dioxide, trap copious amounts of heat. Its upper atmosphere, however, hosts more moderate, reasonable climes.
Jupiter: Jupiter is a gas giant planet, containing over twice the mass of all other planets in our solar system combined. Thick clouds and storms (largely of hydrogen and helium) swirl around the surface, including the Great Red Spot, which NASA notes has “raged for over a century.” Jupiter contains a whopping 92 known moons, including the fascinating world Europa, which harbors an icy ocean beneath its cracked shell.
Kerbal Space Program 2 release date, new planets, and more
Want to know more about Kerbal Space Program 2’s release date? Kerbal Space Program is a cute space exploration sim, officially released back in 2015 after spending almost four years in beta. Its sequel, Kerbal Space Program 2 (KSP2), has also been in the works for some time now, with an initial release date set back in 2021. While we’ve used the word “cute” – and Kerbals most certainly are – don’t be fooled. Kerbal Space Program is one of the most realistic and well-researched space games in existence.
Developer Intercept has been keen to point out that KSP2 is a real attempt at visualising what the future of space exploration has in store for us. The team has been working with actual astrophysicists for accuracy – right down to Metallic Hydrogen fuel and its very factually-correct pink exhaust. Moreover, Intercept has taken some of the known frustrations with KSP1 and ironed them out for its follow-up. Here’s a summary of what we know so far about Kerbal Space Program 2’s release date.
MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best space games on PC, The best simulation games on PC
The stunning new planets discovered in 2022
It’s been a landmark year for discovering new, fascinating worlds.
In 2022, NASA surpassed 5,000 confirmed exoplanets, which are alien worlds beyond our solar system. These include a diversity of distant planets, including (perhaps rocky) super-Earths, gas giants like Jupiter, “ice giants” like Neptune, and beyond. Although planetary scientists have discovered thousands of these curious places, it’s likely there are over a trillion exoplanets in our Milky Way galaxy alone.
What’s more, the James Webb Space Telescope — the most powerful such telescope ever built — peered into the atmospheres of some of these planets this year, giving scientists unprecedented insights into these still largely mysterious orbs.
Below you can read about the recent exoplanet discoveries made in 2022. (Stay tuned: Next year promises bounties of more fascinating detections in deep space.)
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Planet hosts metal clouds and raining gems
Credit: Patricia Klein / MPIA
Planetary scientists spot many far-off exoplanets by pointing specialized telescopes, like NASA’s legendary Kepler telescope, at distant stars and looking for dips in their brightness. It’s a strong hint that a planet passed in front of that star.
Sometimes, scientists can even glimpse an exoplanet’s atmosphere (a feat that will grow more common with the powerful Webb telescope). Recently, researchers found that airborne metals and gems likely exist on the cooler side of WASP-121 b, an exoplanet some 855 light-years from Earth. There, it’s cool enough for metals in the high atmosphere — like magnesium, iron, vanadium, chromium, and nickel — to condense into clouds.
What might such metallic clouds look like? “I don’t think we can say what they’d look like for sure, because cloud formation is complicated and we don’t have clouds like these to observe up close in our own solar system,” Thomas Mikal-Evans, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and a lead author of the research, told Mashable.
But he speculated these extraterrestrial clouds could resemble dust storms on Earth. Some clouds might be colored blue or red. Others grey or green.
And, sometimes, the clouds could further condense into droplets, ultimately meaning gems raining from the sky.
A weird “rugby ball-shaped” planet
Credit: ESA
Most planets are spherical. But not WASP-103b.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Cheops space telescope (short for CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite), found that WASP-103-b — a planet twice the size of Jupiter — zooms around its star in just a day. This causes extreme tugging on the planet, a much more intense version of how the moon tugs tides on Earth. Ultimately, this tugging has deformed the planet from its once spherical shape.
The Cheops satellite measures tiny changes in light, and was able to observe the planet’s odd shape as it passed in front of its star. “The size of the effect of tidal deformation on an exoplanet transit light curve is very small, but thanks to the very high precision of Cheops we are able to see this for the first time,” the ESA’s Cheops project scientist, Kate Isaak, said in a statement.
A rare discovery on a “Super Neptune.”
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Some 150 light-years from Earth, astronomers detected a “super Neptune” (meaning a planet a little larger than Neptune) with water vapor in its atmosphere. That’s a rarity.
“At 150 light-years, [TOI-674 b is] considered ‘nearby’ in astronomical terms,” writes NASA, which is one reason scientists can glean the chemical make-up of its atmosphere.
“Many questions remain, such as how much water vapor its atmosphere holds,” the space agency added. “But TOI-674 b’s atmosphere is far easier to observe than those of many exoplanets, making it a prime target for deeper investigation.”
Perhaps the James Webb telescope, which will return its first cosmic images in July 2022, will peer deeper into this exoplanet’s atmosphere.
A still-forming exoplanet
Credit: NASA / ESA / Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
Planetary scientists discovered a giant, still-forming exoplanet called AB Aurigae b.
The over 30-year-old Hubble Space Telescope imaged the planet, which is developing in a still young and volatile disk of gas and dust, called a protoplanetary disk. The nascent solar system’s star is just 2 million years old. (The sun, for context, is over 4.5 billion years old.).
The new planet is giant. Scientists suspect its nine times bigger than Jupiter. And it orbits profoundly far from its star, at some 8.6 billion miles away. That’s over twice as far as Pluto is from the sun.
Unlike most planets, which researchers think formed when smaller objects in the planetary disk collided and grew into large, hot planetary objects, AB Aurigae b may have formed when its cooled disk broke up into big fragments.
A colossal ocean may completely cover this planet
Credit: Benoit Gougeon / Université De Montréal
One hundred light-years away in the cosmos, a sprawling ocean may slosh over the entirety of a distant planet.
In August, astronomers announced that the exoplanet TOI-1452 b is close in size to Earth and lies in a region of its solar system where liquid water could exist. Vast amounts of water — many times the amount of water on Earth — could account for the planet’s lower density (as opposed to a world teeming with rock and metal). The team of over 50 scientists published their results in The Astronomical Journal.
“TOI-1452 b is one of the best candidates for an ocean planet that we have found to date,” Charles Cadieux, an astronomer at the Université de Montréal who led the research, said in a statement.
It’s possible an ocean makes up some 30 percent of TOI-1452 b’s mass. On Earth, water makes up just one percent of the planetary mass.
A weird marshmallow-like planet
Credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Da Silva / Spaceengine / M. Zamani
Meet the “fluffy” world TOI-3757 b. Astronomers think it has an atmospheric density similar to a marshmallow.
Atop a mountain in Arizona, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory used a 11.5-foot-wide telescope called WIYN to investigate the gassy Jupiter-like world some 580 light-years away in deep space. It orbits a common though curious type of star called a “red dwarf.” These stars are much smaller and dimmer than the sun, but they’re awfully fickle: They shoot out violent flares that can make nearby planets inhospitable.
Planetary scientists suggested two ideas for the planet’s marshmallow-like atmosphere:
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Gas giants like Jupiter start their lives as rocky cores many times Earth’s mass. They use this mass to pull in nearby gas as the solar system forms, explains the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, which runs big telescopes across the U.S. But the red dwarf star contains fewer heavy elements than other such stars, meaning the planet’s rocky core may have formed slowly and “delayed” the process of pulling in that surrounding gas. Ultimately, TOI-3757 b was left with a less dense, fluffier atmosphere than other Jupiter-like planets orbiting these stars.
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TOI-3757 b’s orbit around its red dwarf star could be elliptical. “There are times it gets closer to its star than at other times, resulting in substantial excess heating that can cause the planet’s atmosphere to bloat,” NOIRLab explains.
Unprecedented detection on a planet 700 light-years away
Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / J. Olmsted (STScI)
The powerful Webb telescope doesn’t need to take pretty pictures to revolutionize our grasp of the cosmos.
Astronomers pointed the space observatory at WASP-39 b, a hot, gas giant closely orbiting a star 700 light-years away. And for the first time, they discovered “a full menu” of atoms and molecules in an exoplanet’s clouds, and some are interacting. This latest detection (using specialized instruments called spectrometers) proves that astronomers can peer into the atmospheres of strange exoplanets and decipher what’s transpiring or being made chemically — and if these worlds might then contain conditions that could potentially harbor life.
A star’s light can often stoke chemical reactions on a planet, a process dubbed “photochemistry.” This is what’s happening on WASP-39 b.
“Planets are sculpted and transformed by orbiting within the radiation bath of the host star,” Natalie Batalha, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who contributed to the new research, said in a statement. “On Earth, those transformations allow life to thrive.”
Exoplanet discoveries will be added as scientists find more wild worlds in 2022.